Travel Iowa

[Iowa Dave]

Time for my annual promotion of my home state: Iowa. Today I received my spring and summer edition of the www.traveliowa.com. travel guide. Just a beautiful, free publication with thousands of tourism ideas. 20 Thousand or so campsites, bordered by two great rivers, bucolic farm scenes, museums, zoos, botanical gardens, sculpture parks, bicycle trails, water trails, Lewis and Clark trail, the Mormon trail, wineries, distilleries, a presidential library and museum, the world famous Little Brown Church in the Vale, spring fed trout fishing streams, the Lincoln Highway and many other scenic byways, the National Czech and Slovak museum the Field of Dreams, Bridges of Madison County and a nice list of the 100 best ice cream stores in the state. Much more than just a cornfield where the music died although we have that too. Send away for this free guide, and get off those super slabs they call Interstate 80, 29 and 35 and take a breath of country air. That’s not the smell of cow poop, it’s the smell of money. By the way, that’s Mount Trashmore on the cover, overlooking my home town of Cedar Rapids, I share it with Grant Wood and Carl Van Vechten.
Iowa Dave

[Mike G]

You have me thinking about it. The Maquoketa Caves sound great.

[Iowa Dave]

The camping there is pretty decent. The caves are fun especially for kids. Some are big wide open caverns and a couple go right on down into the earth. I got about 20 feet down in one years ago and that was far enough for me. If the camping is booked up at the state park, there are other places fairly nearby. There is a drive in Movie at nearby Maquoketa that my daughter hits a couple times a year. It’s not far over to the Mississippi River. I’ve camped at the Dyas unit of Bellevue state park once too. Very dark at night for stargazing. Very nice fall color. Bluff Lake Catfish Farm for all you can eat catfish on the weekends. Crash bang shade tree mechanic farm boy stock car racing at the fairgrounds on the weekend. The track should be named Thunder Hollow (from the movie “Cars”) She’s pretty wooly.
Iowa Dave

[johnnyv]

Good one Dave! I concur

[oldwave]

Nice I’ll look at some stuff on my way through to Colorado in June, as I’m stopping in Solon

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Nice I’ll look at some stuff on my way through to Colorado in June, as I’m stopping in Solon

I’ll be rolling through Solon a little later today as I’ll be in Iowa city and then need to go to the west side of Marion. So I’ll be on Highway One and go right by the hardware store. I’d like to get down and fish Lake MacBride as there is a good Crappie population right now. They ought to be getting ready to spawn in the next couple weeks. The Fisheries biologist there is Paul Sleeper and is a friend of mine. On the south end of Solon is a cross-cross country road that goes over to the Cedar River hamlet of Sutliff. The tavern there is an experience for sure. Hope you have a good trip into and through Iowa.
Iowa Dave

[azjack]

Dave, hate to say it but the one thing we really remember about Iowa in our pre-escape days was the bicycle paths that went through corn fields. I seem to remember something about being on old rail right of ways. Nancy thought it was a little spooky.
Hi to Rita , grand son and Jake.
AZjack and Nancy

[johnnyv]

Hello AZJack , any Arizona snowbird tips ? Thx

[azjack]

Don't come here May to Sept.
AZjack

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Jack
Well what can I say. When you have a trail named The Prairie Farmer Trail (near Creaco) which is on old Milwaukee Road ROW and goes through cornfields too I’ll either have to plead the 5th or drink from one.
The “Rails to Trails” movement is still a thing in the Midwest. I believe it started in Wisconsin with the Elroy-Sparta trail near the Camp McCoy military base. We rode that one when I was Scoutmaster in the 90’s and had a feature article in the Boys Life magazine done on our troop where the boys were earning the Bicycling Merit Badge. Checked out one of my favorite campgrounds this morning and it’s open for the season. Lake MacBride state park “Primitive” area. All the oak firewood you could burn in a week, free and the fee is about $10 a night. Flush restrooms and municipal water but no electric. Have a good Easter Holiday.
Iowa Dave

[johnnyv]

Stopped over in Phoenix one August ...Whew !

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I’ll be rolling through Solon a little later today as I’ll be in Iowa city and then need to go to the west side of Marion. So I’ll be on Highway One and go right by the hardware store. I’d like to get down and fish Lake MacBride as there is a good Crappie population right now. They ought to be getting ready to spawn in the next couple weeks. The Fisheries biologist there is Paul Sleeper and is a friend of mine. On the south end of Solon is a cross-cross country road that goes over to the Cedar River hamlet of Sutliff. The tavern there is an experience for sure. Hope you have a good trip into and through Iowa.
Iowa Dave

Hi: Iowa Dave... Do you need a license to fish there?
Oh look... there's a squirrel!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Iowa Dave]

I have lifetime hunting, fishing . Fur harvester , third fishing pole, landowner deer, landowner Turkey and a trout stamp. So I’m covered at Sutliff and everywhere else in Iowa. They used to have a gas pump on the edge of river. It’s pretty common for folks to fish from the old Sutliff bridge and at break time wobble a hundred feet into the tavern. You could get gassed up two ways at Sutliff. Probably about two or three thousand one dollar bills thumb tacked to the ceiling. Oh she’s real classy.
Iowa Dave

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I have lifetime hunting, fishing . Fur harvester , third fishing pole, landowner deer, landowner Turkey and a trout stamp. So I’m covered at Sutliff and everywhere else in Iowa. They used to have a gas pump on the edge of river. It’s pretty common for folks to fish from the old Sutliff bridge and at break time wobble a hundred feet into the tavern. You could get gassed up two ways at Sutliff. Probably about two or three thousand one dollar bills thumb tacked to the ceiling. Oh she’s real classy.
Iowa Dave

Sounds like my kind of place...........

[Voyager]

I’ve spent a little time in Iowa, not near enough time. We will explore it more I’m sure...heck it’s close and I’m a lifelong flatlander. I like the Midwest, It just makes sense.

[HABBERDABBER]

Decorah IA is a swell burg, plenty to see, and Yellow River S.F. south of there is a special favorite for camping. The Mississippi river towns are most interesting all along the way.



Go South, young man.

[Padre]

Makes me want to go camping in Iowa.

[Iowa Dave]

State park fee went up $4 a night on the electric sites this spring. First real increase in 10 years. A couple things about camping.
1. I believe the “rule of thumb” is 25% of the sites are walk-ins. In the state parks.
2. There are some nice corps of engineers campgrounds in Iowa where the senior pass can be used
3 There are 99 counties in Iowa. Each county system is governed by a county conservation board. I believe all of the systems have camping. They set their own rates. They set their walk in percentage of walk in if any and some do not have reservations. Access these county operations through
mycountyparks.com .

Nobody is full during the week right now till school gets out but weekends can be crowded or competitive.
About every county has a nature center in their system with a naturalist who is tasked with programming.
Iowa Dave .

[oldwave]

Also in Decorah are two friends of mine who are wonderful blues musicians, Joe and Vicky Price. Look for them !

[Mike G]

Dave, how problematic are the mosquitos and ticks around there now (mid June)?